Smoothie
by holydarknessrising
Summary: When the things in your life are confusing, and you don't really understand what's happening, who can you turn to? When you don't know if you can trust your emotions, believe in yourself, be there for him, what do you do? "Smoothie" is a TidusWakka fic, w
1. One

Okay, so as promised, here is my light, fluffy KH AU Tikka fic. Please note that this might not be that good, because I had a super great copy of the first two chapters of this, wrote them to a CD and now the CD will not read them! I'm so mad/depressed right now… They were really good, long chapters… Oh well. Please note that this story will start out slightly depressing while I trace and reweave the tapestries of the histories of our characters.

* * *

The night was typical of that of the sleepy island in the summer, humid, a slight breeze, cloud cover appearing out of nowhere. The torrential rain fell down, as if from nowhere, for a straight fifteen minutes, lightning flashed, and the thunder roared. Then, as suddenly as the torrent had begun, it stopped, and the only things left to signify it had come at all were the damp street, sidewalks, and lawns and the musty smell of the rain.

His window had been open, but the rain hadn't entered, the houses were built to shelter their inhabitants from such occurrences. The smell of the rain mixed with the smells of sand and boy, a strong aroma, courageous and filled with spirit, but it wasn't unpleasant. He breathed deeply in his sleep. The telephone rang.

Sleepily, a long browned arm reached from under the sheet, searching on his bedside table for the phone, until he found the noisy object, grabbing the receiver and knocking the base to the floor at the same time. He raised the black and yellow object to his ear, mumbling into the microphone.

"…Hello?"

"Wakka?"

"Yeah, it's me. Who else would it be, brudda?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"Just be glad that my old man gave me my own line, because of things like this. So… Why're you callin' so late?"

"I…"

The other end was silent. "You what? What happened, Tidus?"

"He left again."

Wakka was silent this time. The word "again" racing through his mind. "How long this time?"

"I don't know. I just woke up, because of the thunder, and he wasn't there."

"There has to be a note, ya."

"I've looked… There isn't."

Wakka frowned. "How about you and your mom- oh… Sorry, brudda…"

"I-it's okay…" mumbled Tidus.

Wakka's frowned deepened. It had been eight months since that day, but he could remember it perfectly, so he couldn't see how it could have slipped his mind… It was one of those tragedies that you just don't forget.

They'd been on Destiny Island, the smallest of their chain, and the closest to their home of Fortuna, but since the Destiny was so small, it only served as a playground for Fortuna's older children, mainly the teens. They'd been on the beach, sparring, and in the distance, they heard a sound almost foreign to their ears.

'Shh, listen,' said Wakka to Tidus, gazing out towards Fortuna.

'Why?' the blonde had asked, cocking his head to one side, a slightly confused expression, but it helped him to hear.

'You hear that, brudda?'

'Yeah… Is it a motor boat?'

Wakka had nodded, as the boat had become visible at that exact moment.

'Who d'you think's in it?' Tidus had asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, trying to get a better look of the driver.

'I dunno, but they're coming right at us!'

The boat pulled into the island, landing inches from the shoreline and a man both boys recognized had hopped out into the water, advancing on them. His light brown, shoulder-length hair was disheveled and his brown eyes were puffy, as if he'd been crying, but both boys knew this couldn't be true. Jecht never cried. He'd just come to the island, grabbed Tidus around the waist without a word, and went back into the ship, leaving without even a glance at Wakka.

Tidus had turned around, to wave at his friend, a gesture barely noticeable as his image became smaller and smaller, for the boat wasn't headed for Fortuna, but for Celeste, the closest large island.

Later that night, Wakka's phone had rung. He picked it up in a rush, hoping to hear his best friend's voice on the other end, but not expecting to hear the words the blonde's voice spoke.

'She's dead.'

'Wha…? Who?'

'My ma… she's dead.'

'Tidus… I… What… How?' Wakka was speechless. He'd never seen it coming, not in a million years. Valerie had been one of the healthiest women he knew, she'd taught at a ballet school on Celeste, which some of the local girls had attended, and she was always so careful…

'A boating accident. She'd been coming home, on the ferry, and there was a speed boat, some teenage kids from Carmina… They weren't watching where they were going, they were drunk, they were still drinking, they were doing drugs… They crashed into the ferry and the engines of both boats exploded… She died instantly… We… we…' Tidus began sobbing hysterically.

'You what? What happened, ya!'

Wakka could hear Jecht yelling in the background. 'Shut up! Don't be such a crybaby!' But that only seemed to make Tidus cry more. Wakka heard a "click," Jecht had hung up the phone.

Later, the redhead learned that when Jecht came to get Tidus, they had gone to Celeste to identify Valerie's body.

"No, it's not okay, ya. You… I shouldn't have said that… I'm sorry."

"Wakka, stop apologizing. There's really no need to…"

"Still…" The thunder clapped again, lightning filling the sky and the rain began to fall as if a sheet had been let down on the island. Tidus whimpered, and Wakka knew that he was probably sitting in his kitchen with all the lights on, looking outside and imagining horrible things happening to him. Tidus had an overactive imagination. "You wanna come over?"

Tidus nodded.

"Hey, brudda… You're not nodding are you? You know I can't hear that," said Wakka, laughing, knowing exactly how Tidus would respond to his question.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I would like to, I mean, if that's okay."

"It's fine," said Wakka, looking over at the extra bed in his room, put there just for this reason. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes, okay?"

Tidus nodded again, but quickly shook his head, laughing at his stupidity. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye," said Wakka, hanging up the phone. He went to his dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts, pulling them on over his boxers, which were printed with blitzballs, and looking out the window. As suddenly as he did, the rain stopped, so the redhead decided against a jacket. He carefully tied his bandana around his forehead, checking to make sure that it set evenly and hid the roots of his bangs.

He walked towards his bedroom door and opened it slowly, stepping out into the hall. He crept past his father's room, hearing the thirty-seven year old snoring loudly, and past his baby brother's room, not hearing the toddler at all. Both were good signs.

The sixteen year old stepped into the living room, noticing the TV was turned on. He picked up the remote, ready to turn off the appliance, but then he saw the sleeping form of his three-year-old brother on the couch. Wakka sighed, tossing the remote into an empty chair and picking up a blanket to drape over the small child, before opening the front door as quietly as he could, slinking outside, and closing it softly behind him.

Across the street, he noticed the lights on in Sora's house, just the upstairs, so Wakka knew immediately that the brunette wasn't asleep. Most likely, he was talking to Riku on the computer, either that or he was playing video games with Riku through the internet or in person. As all the lights in Riku's house, three houses down, were turned off, Wakka guessed the latter to be true.

Strolling down the street, Wakka passed Selphie's house at the corner, eerily quiet for anything relating to the most hyperactive girl he knew, but then again, Selphie was at her best when she was asleep. He turned the corner, walking down two more blocks, until he reached a cul-de-sac, Kairi's house on the left corner, across the street was the empty house, the sign reading 'Fortuna Realty,' stuck into the yard with a tube full of papers with the dimensions hanging idly from it. Kairi's house was, of course, completely lit up by small lanterns in the garden, but the inside was quite the opposite as everyone had already fallen asleep.

At the end of the drive, right in the middle of the circular street, sat the house he was looking for. All the lights inside were on, but nobody was inside, for when Wakka made his way towards it, he saw a figure sitting under a lone streetlight on a duffel bag. He knew who it was, but as he neared, he verified it. The figure was Tidus, blonde and small, as he cowered alone in the cool summer breeze. Wakka stifled a laugh. He looked like a runaway from an old-time movie.

"Whatcha doin' outside all alone, brudda?" he asked when he was three yards away from the boy, nodding to the house, he continued. "An' why're all your lights on?"

"I was waiting for you," said Tidus, smiling and looking up as the sound of Wakka's voice. He leapt off the duffel bag, quickly putting the luggage over his shoulder. It was black and yellow, though a very mellow and subdued shade of the sunny color, the colors of his favorite blitzball team. He looked back to his house as Wakka nodded and commented. "It makes it seem less lonely," said Tidus, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Wakka smiled. "Alright, then… But now we have to go in and turn all the lights off, you know?"

"Yeah…"

They accomplished this task, Tidus never leaving Wakka's side, which the redhead noted solemnly. These periods of Jecht being away. They were really affecting his friend.

Both boys set off on the way Wakka came, running the last few feet to Wakka's house because a light drizzle had started. Sure enough, as soon as they'd reached Wakka's front porch, the downpour began.

"Good thing we got an awning, ya?"

Tidus laughed, nodding.

Wakka smiled, laughing himself. "See, it only works in person."

Tidus blushed, and then, as Wakka stepped inside, the blonde followed, moving out of the way so Wakka could quietly shut the door behind him. Though, it seemed this quiet wasn't enough.

"Tida!" shrieked a high-pitched, excited voice, belonging to none other than the three-year-old terror himself.

Both of the teenagers' eyes widened and they motioned for Chappu to quiet down, but it was too late for that.

"Wakka? Chappu?" came the sleepy voice of Wakka's father, getting nearer and nearer. "What's all the commotion?"

* * *

Well, there you have it. My newest fic, happy enough for you? Well… I guess this one was a little more of a depressing note, but it will pass with the weather, and the second chapter should be much happier! Just to let you know, this is about forty percent longer than the original chapter one, with the history of Tidus' mother's death much more detailed. Well, what Wakka remembered of it is anyway. So, read and review, it will motivate me to write the second chapter sooner. 


	2. Two

Alrighty then! Here it is, and I won't even make you wait that long. Okay, so totally off topic, my friends and I (we're guys) think it will be totally funny to dress up as the Plastics from Mean Girls for Halloween. Me, being the ditziest of us all, will be Karen, but that's okay, she's my favorite. Anyway, back to my not making you wait for the second chapter… I got new shoes! They're these yellow New Balances that look sorta kinda barely like Sora's shoes from Kingdom Hearts! Awesome, right? And then, the other pair is brown and they kinda look like Goofy's shoes from KH, which is less awesome… You guys don't care do you? Okay, so back to the not waiting. Oh, one more thing! I ordered the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack! YAY! And without further ado, chapter two.

Wakka, hearing the strong, yet sedated, voice of his father, froze. As did Tidus, but, Chappu, not understanding that this could lead to trouble, did not. He walked right up to the tanned man, who's brilliant red hair and tanned skin had been passed down to both of his sons, though Chappu's was much lighter than either his father's or his brother's. Wakka had the same nose as Jamon and the same body structure, where as Chappu apparently had his mother's nose and her delicate frame, though the latter wasn't definite yet, because he was still so young. Neither of the boys had Jamon's clear, sky blue eyes.

"Daddy!" shouted Chappu, running towards the tallest redhead, wanting to be picked up.

Jamon looked down at his youngest and smiled. "What're you doing up so late, ya?" His accent, and even the rich, friendly tones in his voice could be found in Wakka's as well. Tidus smiled. The thirty-seven-year old noticed the blonde for the first time. Wakka tensed.

"Tidus! It's always nice to have you here, brudda. So…" Wakka heaved a sigh of relief as his father went on, apparently not peeved about the invitation he'd extended to his best friend. Of course, Jamon also understood the situations Tidus had been living with for the past eight months, and he _had_ been the one to suggest an extra bed in Wakka's room. Actually, he'd suggested making the guest room a bedroom for Tidus, but Tidus wouldn't impose like that. "How long's he gone for this time?"

Tidus shook his head. "I don't know."

"There has to be a note somewhere, ya?"

Again, the blonde teenager shook his head in a firm manner. "I looked everywhere… He didn't."

Jamon smiled at him wider, though his blue eyes portrayed the essence of his sorrow and disappointment in Jecht, who was one of his closest friends. "Well, you're welcome as long as you like, brudda. Our home is your home… But now, I think it's time for bed."

The tall man grabbed the remote Wakka had discarded minutes before and turned off the television, shifting Chappu to his shoulders and taking him to his room. "Are you gonna stay asleep this time?"

"No," was the child's simple answer, audible from down the hall.

Tidus laughed, but Wakka shook his head at him, smiling. "Don't encourage him, ya? So… you sleepy?"

The younger of the boys nodded, grinning a little sheepishly. "Yeah… I haven't had very pleasant dreams recently…"

Wakka lead the way to his room, looking over his shoulder at Tidus, the friendly face of his friend stricken, but trying so hard to put on a cheerful front. Wakka decided to humor him on this note, because he knew that prying for information about the blonde's emotions would get him nowhere.

"Don't worry about bad dreams, brudda, I got a dream catcher in my room!"

"I bought that for you at a gift shop on Carmina, remember, when we had to go to that big boring place…"

"The museum," offered Wakka, clearing off the extra bed, items spilling all over the floor. He began to push them under his own bed, each of them vanishing from sight in turn: three blitzballs, sports magazines, a handheld video game player, a pair of swim trunks, a thalassa shell necklace.

"Yeah…" said Tidus, setting his duffel bag down on the end of the bed as Wakka tossed him an extra pillow from the closet.

"So, d'you need anything? A glass of water, a snack, music, video games… Anything, brudda?"

"No… I think I'll just go to sleep." Tidus turned to look at Wakka's blitzball alarm clock, the time read '1:23 AM.' He yawned, stretching back on the furniture and shutting his eyes.

Wakka removed the shorts he'd thrown on in haste to get Tidus, getting back under his sheet and turning to face the open window, gazing at the stars until he fell asleep.

Birds were tittering outside the window and the redhead stirred, yawning in the morning sunlight. He sat up in his bed, looking to the clock, which now said that it was 9:15 AM. "Great timing," thought Wakka, looking to Tidus, who was still snoring, the covers completely off the bed, as was the pillow, which was on the other side of the room. The blonde's clothes were scattered around as well, the boy now only in his underwear, the shoulder-strap of his duffel bag was wrapped around his right leg.

Wakka blushed as he untangled the luggage from the boy, trying not to look at him. The task accomplished, he headed into the bathroom, discarding his dirty boxers in the hamper before turning the knobs of the shower. He waited until the water was a perfect mix for the summer heat, a luke-warm kind of two-hours past melted ice cream temperature, and then he got in. He shampooed, soaped, and rinsed, before turning off the water and wrapping an orange towel around his waist.

At sixteen, Wakka was the oldest of the teenagers who still hung out on Destiny Island, and he was also the only boy to shave. Which was the next thing he had to do before gelling and blow-drying his hair into the perfect style, or at least the one he liked.

He opened the cupboard in the bathroom, pulling on a clean pair of boxers and hung the towel up beside the shower to dry, before he could use it again the next time. He went to his dresser and pulled out a clean T-shirt, light brown with tropical flowers printed in light blue and white in a band across the chest. Next, he pulled on a pair of khaki cargo shorts, followed by leather sandals and finally, he put on the thalassa shell necklace, the one Tidus had made him for his last birthday, which had been only three weeks before.

All this completed, the clock now read 10:00 AM, and the blonde still showed no signs of waking, so Wakka opened the door to his room and headed to the kitchen. He was surprised; Chappu hadn't tackled him, or even intruded into his room this morning, but then, a note from his father cleared the whole thing up.

'Wakka and Tidus,' it read in Jamon's hasty scrawl, 'I've left for work, as usual, and I won't be back until five, as usual. Since you guys will probably head straight to Destiny, I've taken Chappu to Anne's. Take your cell phone, Wakka, because if anything happens to Chappu, you gotta be there for him. I'll come back as soon as I can if something does happen. Try not to get into too much trouble.

Love ya,

Dad (or Jamon if you're Tidus.)'

Wakka laughed. His father worried too much, it wouldn't have been any trouble for them to take Chappu to Kairi's house on their way to wherever it was they'd be going that day, but of course, Jamon had to be the cool dad, and couldn't let Wakka have any responsibility. The redhead smiled, opening the refrigerator door and getting out the milk, pouring a bowl of cereal for himself and beginning to eat it, turning the small TV on the counter on.

He flipped through the channels, a bored sigh escaping him. "News… news… news… news… talk show… news…" He rested on the channel his father watched the news on the most, listening in an offhanded manner about how a smart girl on Celeste had graduated high school at thirteen, or how doctors on Carmina thought they had discovered a cure for the cold. The sports came on, but there hadn't been a single goal in the last blitzball game, and he really didn't care about the movie reviewer's opinions of the latest teen comedy.

He heard shuffling footsteps down the hall. A half-awake, bed-headed Tidus meandered in, looking at Wakka with bleary blue eyes. "G'mornin' Wakka."

"'Ey! You're finally up, sleepyhead! You hungry?"

Tidus shook his head. "Can I grab a shower?"

Wakka nodded, smiling. "Sure, you know you don't have to ask, brudda."

Tidus exited and Wakka cleared his dishes, doing all those in the sink at the same time. He was putting them into the cupboards as a much more put together Tidus reentered.

"Hungry now?" asked Wakka, turning to him, also noting that the clock indicated that only forty-five minutes had passed since he'd read his father's note.

"Nope… Where's Chappu?"

"Kairi's. What do you wanna do?" Wakka scratched his arm, looking Tidus over. He was wearing a green tank top, the shade complimenting his complexion, and a pair of blue cast-away pants, gray and blue tennis shoes on his feet. The boy seemed ready to do anything.

"I dunno… I wonder what everyone else is doing?"

"There's only one way to find out, right?"

Tidus nodding, but then squinted at Wakka. "Wait- what? Whaddya mean?"

"I mean we have to go out and see, ya… What'd you think I meant, brudda?"

Tidus shook his head, smiling at Wakka. "I don't know. I just didn't know what you meant in the first place." He laughed and then turned around, looking out the window. "I don't see anyone… Hey, wait! There's Sora!" The blonde rushed to the front door, flinging it open and running outside to greet their friend, who was not out alone. Riku emerged from the brunette's house just as Wakka closed the door to his and locked it.

"Hey Sora! Hey Riku! What're you guys goin' to do today?" asked the blonde energetically.

"Hey Tidus, Wakka," said Sora in a friendly manner, waving at both of them.

"Good morning, bruddas."

"Hey," said Riku, in a general "all of you guys" way, with a slight nod of his silver-topped head.

Sora, looking back to Tidus, smiled. "Um… I dunno. What were we gonna do, Riku?"

Riku shrugged, a sigh escaping from his mouth, his eyes closing in a slightly exasperated manner, though he really wasn't peeved. It was just one of his expressions, one that indicated he wasn't sure either, like Sora's scratch of the head or Tidus' blank grin. "I don't think we'd decided."

Wakka laughed. "We hadn't decided either. We came out to see what everyone else was doing, isn't that right, man?" Wakka glanced pointedly at Tidus, who was bouncing slightly on his feet, obliviously trying to keep active, from the sheer hatred of boredom.

The blonde nodded, and then turned his head to Wakka, then back to the other two boys' who had just joined them.

Sora had to laugh, though at the predicament they had found themselves in. "That's why we came outside, too!"

"Well," said Riku, slightly offhandedly, as if his mind were in another place, "why don't we all decide together? It shouldn't be _that _hard to think of something to do… I mean, we _do_ do it every day."

After five minutes of thinking, and no ideas, Tidus was ready to do anything, even laundry. "Well… This is fun, but let's do something else!"

Riku shook his head, obviously marveling at how optimistic Tidus could be at all times, and a slight bit chapped at his sunny disposition. He really wasn't awake at this time of the day, especially after staying up all night at Sora's.

"HEY GUYS!" sounded a high-pitched voice from the end of the street, which all of them could recognize.

"Oh God," muttered Riku, raising his hand to his face, "she is the _last _person we should ask what do to… She'll have us getting makeovers, or worse…"

"I dunno… She might want to go get ice cream," voiced Sora, who waved at Selphie as her sister drove them down the road.

The blue convertible halted next to the grouping, and Selphie giggled. "We were just going to go to Celeste!" She nodded to her sister, and the girl in the back seat, who they knew as well.

"Hi guys," beamed Kairi, giggling slightly, a purse on her shoulder.

"Hey," said each of the boys in turn, Tidus beaming at Katie, Selphie's seventeen-year-old sister, and Sora beaming at Kairi. Both Riku and Wakka rolled their eyes.

"Wait- you were going to _drive_ to Celeste?" asked Tidus, incredulously, his eyes widening and his mouth gaping a bit more than usual. Wakka laughed, nudging him in the side, but the others were not so couth as to their finding humor in his statement. Sora and Riku had fallen on the ground from their rages of laughter. Tidus blushed.

The girls all giggled, Selphie rapping her knuckles on his head. "Hello-o! Is anyone home in there? We're going on the _ferry_, duh! What'd you do, forget to bring your brain this morning?"

"No… I…" Tidus muttered, scuffing the ground with his foot, his blush deepening. Wakka, noticing how embarrassed he was at his slight ditzy moment, put his arm around the blonde, smiling at him, and then looking to the girls. Riku gave Sora a look, though its meaning was not easily distinguishable.

"Hey, now. We saw this thing on TV last night, about a car that could turn into a speedboat. Tidus just thought you guys might have gotten one, I mean, we've never seen a car like _this_ before, you know?" said Wakka, patting the azure hood of the automobile.

Katie smiled. "That's because it's an import, from the mainland."

Selphie giggled. "Daddy brought it back from his business trip, but all I got was a new wardrobe!" Her whining was typical of any little sister, but by the look of her lavender top and purple skirt, Selphie's wardrobe must have equaled, if not exceeded the cost of her sister's convertible.

"Oh," said Tidus, playing along with Wakka's lie, though still blushing.

"We were going to ask you boys to come with us," said Kairi, smiling in a friendly manner, "but I don't think any of you lazy bums would be up for a day trolling the mall."

"I could!" said Sora, running in the house, apparently to get money from his bank, or to grab the wallet he hardly ever carried. He came rushing back out, locking the door to his house behind him and hopped into the car next to Kairi.

"I guess it'd be better than nothing…" said Riku, shrugging, getting in next to Sora.

All the passengers looked expectantly at the two remaining boys. Tidus frowned, and Wakka, noting this shook his head. "I don't think I wanna go… I got enough clothes, CDs, computer games… I don't need anything, ya." He looked to Tidus, who was in slightly better spirits now, though he still looked forlorn.

"I don't really wanna go either…"

"Okay!" said Selphie, and her sister drove off, the two stay-behinders' friends waving as they headed toward the marina.

The redhead looked to Tidus, relinquishing his grip on the boy and moving to face him. "Hey… Why didn't you wanna go, brudda?"

Tidus looked at him. "Wakka… I haven't been on a ferry since… you know…" His eyes downcast and his voice barely audible, Tidus scuffed his foot in a lazy way on the pavement. He sniffled a little, as if he were going to cry, but he didn't. He kept his tears inside, and looked up to bravely face his tanned friend.

"Oh… That's okay. We'll go another time, ya?"

"Wakka… I know you wanted to go…"

"Not really. It would have been fun to hang out at the mall together, but not if I were alone."

"Really?"

"Really, brudda. Besides, there's a ton of things we can do here!"

"Like what"

Wakka thought for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "I don't know. But we'll figure out something!"

Okay, so I don't think this one was as good, but still… It doesn't have a flow, because I was going to have the plot slightly different than it turned out. I was going to have Yuna, the daughter of a foreign ambassador come to the islands, but then I thought, "No. I don't want to use Yuna as an antagonist to my story _again._" Besides, poor Yuna needs a break from all her little cameo roles in fan fictions! So basically, I deleted about four paragraphs which were part of a newscast Wakka was listening to about how Braska would be coming to the islands and how his family would stay on an island not yet revealed. Guess where? The house for sale across the street from Kairi's, but I've decided to save that house for someone else. I won't tell who.


End file.
